Corbin Burnes admits he wants the “honor” of being the starting starter for the Baltimore Orioles

What the Baltimore Orioles have been waiting for has finally arrived: they will face the Kansas City Royals in the Wild Card Round.

While the regular season hasn’t always gone according to plan, the Orioles need to get this over with. Ultimately, they made it through the postseason, and if they win the World Series, no one will remember their struggling performance in a 162-game season.

It all starts at the top. Guys considered stars just have to show up. If not, Baltimore will have a major problem going forward because it will be two postseasons in a row where they don’t play well.

However, the team is young, so anything is possible in October. The Orioles just have to hope their youngsters don’t give up under the pressure, and there’s reason to believe they won’t.

Game 1 will be the biggest game in the series. Corbin Burnes needs to feel confident in wanting to win.

Burnes has had some issues since the All-Star break, but he has been outstanding lately, which is a very promising sign as Baltimore needs him to be elite. The Orioles signed him thinking he would be their playoff ace, so he can’t let them down.

He talked about the decision to start him in the first game, and while it didn’t surprise him, he’s still grateful for the “honor.”

“It’s an honor,” Burnes said, according to Field Level Media. Not many guys in their careers get the ball on opening day (and) the first postseason game. I’ve been fortunate enough to do this several times, including during my first year here in Baltimore. is unique. This is a great group of guys who accepted me from day one.

If there’s one player on Baltimore’s roster with valuable postseason experience, it’s Burnes. But even he doesn’t have much.

“Postseason baseball is a different monster,” Burnes said. “… (It) isn’t necessarily about going out there and scoring as many runs as possible. It’s about controlling the dynamic.”

The right-hander appeared in eight playoff contests, but only started in two of them.

In eight appearances, he posted a 2.84 EA in 19.0 innings pitched.

In his last postseason start, he allowed four earned runs in 4.0 innings, so we’re hoping he’ll be better this time around.

It’s time for him to show the baseball world why he’s worth a $250 million contract this winter.